Cowboys insider: “Dallas is going to be a playoff contender in 2022 if …”

With the NFL regular season kicking off this week, there’s naturally been wide speculation surrounding the projected records each team could post in 2022. And the Dallas Cowboys are certainly a major topic of discussion. That after posting an impressive 12-5 record last season, winning the NFC East division and securing a spot in the playoffs.

This offseason, the Cowboys suffered some major losses to their roster including names like wide receiver Amari Cooper, right tackle La’el Collins, and defensive end Randy Gregory. Following the introduction of yet another draft class and the recent signings of free agents like offensive tackle Jason Peters and linebacker Anthony Barr, many wonder if the Cowboys can continue their dominance in the division despite these offseason changes.

Recently, one Cowboys insider made it quite clear that the Cowboys hopes of returning to the postseason could rely on the play of a single player. Here’s what USA Today’s Jori Epstein told Joe Trahan during WFAA’s Sports Special recently when asked the open-ended question: “The Cowboys make the playoff if …”

“The Cowboys make the playoffs if Micah Parsons is able to become the best player in the league by his definition. His definition is not 20.0 sacks. And it’s really not even how many tackles for loss or what’s he doing. It’s can he take his rare abilities athletically, his rare abilities as a competitor, and elevate those around him. And if you can take a defense that’s is talented, a defense that’s coordinator by Dan Quinn and showed massive improvement last year, and then have Micah Parsons just making everyone around him a little bit better, the Cowboys are going to be playoff contenders.”

Jori Epstein, USA Today Cowboys NFL reporter

Last season, the Cowboys defense ranked 19th in the NFL with 5,967 yards allowed. They were 20th against the pass and 16th against the run. But Dallas only allowed opposing offenses to score an average of 21.1 points per game, the seventh lowest average in the NFL. The Cowboys defense also led the league with 34 takeaways.

That was a far improvement from the previous season where Dallas allowed a whopping 29.6 points per game to their opponents and an average of 158.8 rushing yards on the ground per contest, the latter being the second most in the entire league in 2021.

The drafting of Micah Parsons and the hiring of Dan Quinn as the defensive coordinator seems to be the biggest catalyst for that change in the Cowboys defense last season. With both entering their sophomore seasons in Dallas, many seem to believe their combined growth could be the main reason America’s Team returns to the playoffs in 2022.